Radial cage for cylindrical roller bodies

ABSTRACT

A radial cage in which side rings have a material thickness of a starting material for the radial cage, straight side sections of each axial crossbar are implemented with a greater material thickness that increases their strength, and an axial center section of each axial crossbar is implemented with a smaller material thickness than the material thickness of the side rings, thus reducing centrifugal mass.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

The Names of the Parties to a Joint Research Agreement

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Incorporation-by-Reference of Material Submitted on a Compact Disc

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention concerns a radial cage for cylindrical rolling elements according to the generic features of claim 1, and it can be implemented to particular advantage in the cages of needle roller and cage assemblies intended for applications with very high rotational speeds.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

Conventional needle roller and cage assemblies are single-row or double-row constructional units that consist of just a radial cage and a plurality of needle rollers, and are characterized primarily by a lowest possible overall radial height relative to the diameter of the needle rollers. Moreover, needle roller and cage assemblies produce bearings with high load capacity and high runout accuracy, which can also accommodate high centrifugal and acceleration forces. A generic needle roller and cage assembly of this type is known from EP 1,262,256 A1, for example, and consists essentially of two side rings that define the axial length of the radial cage and of a plurality of profiled axial crossbars that connect these side rings to one another at their outer diameters, with a plurality of pockets for accommodating the needle rollers formed between the crossbars. In this design, the axial crossbars are each composed of two axially straight side sections connected to the side rings, of two intermediate sections extending at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the cage, and of an axial center section, so that the needle rollers are held in the radial cage by the bottom edges of the side sections designed with angled stop faces and by the top edges of the center section of each axial crossbar.

Since such needle roller and cage assemblies generally are suitable for high rotational speeds for design reasons, they are used primarily for planetary gear bearings in the planetary gear trains of automatic transmissions in motor vehicles, and for connecting rod bearings and small end bearings of connecting rods in internal combustion engines. However, in newer generations of automatic transmissions, where the input speeds on the engine side are ever more frequently being stepped up to higher speeds, and the gear ratio speeds are often beyond 10,000 RPM, it has been shown that the increased loads resulting from the high rotational speeds have led to increased crossbar breakage in the vicinity of the straight side sections of the axial crossbars of the radial cage, and thus to failure of the needle roller and cage assemblies. The cause of this was identified as the fact that the radial cage is so strongly loaded by the intermittently acting, extremely high centrifugal forces that its axial crossbars bend outward due to their net mass, thereby causing braking of the needle rollers, and, under some circumstances, even blocking of the needle rollers. In combination with the support forces of the needle rollers on the side sections, this can then lead to the said crossbar breakage in the vicinity of the straight side sections of the axial crossbars of the radial cage, which then resulted in blocking of the needle roller and cage assembly and of the supported planetary gear, and thus in malfunctions of the entire automatic transmission.

To avoid these crossbar breakages, DE 10 2008 026,562 A1 thus proposed designing the axial center sections of each of the axial crossbars of the radial cage to have, in their center regions, an additional subsection extending to the dimension of the outer diameter of the side rings. This measure was intended to achieve the result that the center sections of the axial crossbars are supported on the inside circumferential surface of the bearing seat under high centrifugal loading, thereby reducing bending of the axial crossbars to a minimum.

However, in practice, it has been shown that although it was possible to reduce the frequency of crossbar breakage at the radial cages with such a measure, this type of crossbar breakage nevertheless continues to occur sporadically. Further investigations in this regard have shown that the cause thereof can be found in the particular pocket geometry in conjunction with the size of the stop faces for the needle rollers on the axial crossbars impressed on the bottom edges of the straight side sections. Since these side sections, like the side rings and the other sections of the axial crossbars of the radial cage, are made with a uniform material thickness corresponding to the thickness of the starting material, the angled stop faces do not have the height necessary for full-area contact with the needle rollers, but instead the needle rollers run against only the bottommost edge of the stop faces on the side sections of the axial crossbars.

As a result, increased wear occurs both at the ends of the needle rollers and at the side sections of the axial crossbars of the radial cage, which causes the transverse forces acting during bearing operation to be further intensified and to be transmitted to the side sections of the axial crossbars by the simultaneous contact of the needle rollers with the center sections of the axial crossbars via the leverage of the needle rollers that is now possible. As a result, further advancing wear of the side sections of the axial crossbars then occurs, ultimately ending in the said crossbar breakage of the radial cage with the resultant consequential damage.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Proceeding from the described disadvantages of prior art solutions, therefore, the object of the invention is to design a radial cage with cylindrical rolling elements that reliably avoids the crossbar breakage of the axial crossbars that occurs at high rotational speeds and the resultant consequential damage.

According to one aspect of the invention, this object is attained in a radial cage for cylindrical rolling elements, in particular a needle roller cage, consisting essentially of two side rings that define the axial length of the radial cage and of a plurality of profiled axial crossbars that connect these side rings to one another at their outer diameters, with a plurality of pockets for accommodating the cylindrical rolling elements formed between the crossbars, wherein the axial crossbars are each composed of two axially straight side sections connected to the side rings, two intermediate sections extending at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the cage, and an axial center section, and the rolling elements are radially held in the radial cage by the bottom edges of the side sections designed with angled stop faces and by the top edges of the center section of each axial crossbar, the object attained by the means that only the side rings have the material thickness of the starting material for the radial cage, while the straight side sections of each axial crossbar are implemented with a greater material thickness that increases their strength, and the axial center section of each axial crossbar is implemented with a smaller material thickness than the material thickness of the side rings, reducing its centrifugal mass.

According to another aspect of the invention, provision is made in the radial cage designed according to the invention characterized in that the straight side sections of the axial crossbars can be implemented with stop faces for the rolling elements that are enlarged in the direction of the rolling element pitch circle due to their increased material thickness. This means that, in addition to the effect of increasing the strength of the axial crossbars, the material reinforcement of the side sections additionally produces the advantage that the angled stop faces for the rolling elements impressed on the bottom edges of the side sections extend deeper in the direction of the rolling element pitch circle than in radial cages with uniform material thickness, by which means the desired area contact of the rolling elements with the stop faces can now be reliably achieved.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, it is an optional embodiment of the radial cage designed according to the invention that the axial center section of each axial crossbar is additionally designed with a subsection in its center region projecting to the dimension of the outside diameter of the side rings. Such a measure has proven especially advantageous, chiefly in radial cages with long, cylindrical rolling elements, in order to avoid a bending of the cross-sectionally weakened axial center sections of the axial crossbars under high centrifugal loading by the means that the center sections can be supported with the projecting subsections on the inner circumferential surface of the bearing seat, in a manner similar to the radial cage in DE 10 2008 026,562 A1.

According to still another aspect of the invention, the radial cage designed according to the invention is further characterized in that the intermediate sections of the axial crossbars are designed to be uniformly tapered from the material thickness of the side sections to the material thickness of the center section of every axial crossbar. Such a design has proven to be the most advantageous, especially with regard to production technology, and at the same time ensures that all forces acting on the center sections of the axial crossbars are uniformly transmitted through the intermediate sections into the side sections of the axial crossbars.

Furthermore, according to another aspect of the invention, a useful refinement of the radial cage designed according to the invention is that it is designed as a welded, stamped and formed component made from a steel strip starting material on which the different material thicknesses on its axial crossbars are formed by roll forming. Such a method of manufacturing a steel radial cage has proven to be the most economical in terms of the resulting production costs, with it also being possible, however, to manufacture such a radial cage from a plastic by means of injection molding.

Lastly, according to another aspect of the invention, it is also proposed as a preferred application of the radial cage designed according to the invention for it to be used for planetary gear bearings in the planetary gear trains of automatic transmissions in motor vehicles or for connecting rod bearings and small end bearings of connecting rods in internal combustion engines. The advantages of the radial cage according to the invention come to bear especially clearly in these applications, since the speed-induced loads are especially high here.

In summary, the radial cage designed according to the invention thus has the advantage as compared to radial cages known from the prior art that it is designed with a targeted strengthening of the side sections of its axial crossbars, which are particularly affected by wear, and with a targeted weakening of the center sections of its axial crossbars, which are particularly affected by centrifugal loading, by which means the breakage of the axial crossbars occurring at high speeds and the resultant consequential damage are reliably avoided. At the same time, the reinforcement of the side sections of the axial crossbars has the effect that the angled stop faces for the rolling elements impressed on the bottom edges of the side sections can be made larger than in radial cages with uniform material thickness, ensuring a low-wear area contact of the rolling elements with the stop faces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the radial cage designed in accordance with the invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Shown are:

FIG. 1 a cross-section through a radial cage designed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 the section A-A from FIG. 1 through the radial cage designed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 an enlarged view of an axial crossbar of the radial cage according to the invention along the section B-B in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 an enlarged representation of a pocket of the radial cage according to the invention in accordance with detail X in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS INVENTION

Visible in FIGS. 1 and 2 are two views of a radial cage 1 designed as a needle roller cage for cylindrical rolling elements 6, as is used for planetary gear bearings in the planetary gear trains of automatic transmissions in motor vehicles, or for connecting rod bearings and small end bearings of connecting rods in internal combustion engines. This radial cage 1 consists, in a known manner, essentially of two side rings 2, 3 that define the axial length of the radial cage 1 and of a plurality of profiled axial crossbars 4 that connect these side rings 2, 3 to one another at their outer diameters, with a plurality of pockets 5 for accommodating the cylindrical rolling elements 6 formed between the crossbars. It is clearly visible that the axial crossbars 4 here each have two axially straight side sections 4 a, 4 b connected to the side rings 2, 3, two intermediate sections 4 c, 4 d extending at an angle to the longitudinal axis A_(K) of the cage, and an axial center section 4 e, so that the rolling elements 6, as shown in FIG. 4, are radially held in the radial cage 1 by the bottom edges of the side sections 4 a, 4 b designed with angled stop faces 7, 8, 9, 10 and by the top edges 11, 12 of the center section 4 e of each axial crossbar 4.

The section through one of the axial crossbars 4 of the radial cage 1 shown in FIG. 3 along B-B from FIG. 2 makes it clear, moreover, that according to the invention, in this radial cage 1, only the side rings 2, 3 have the material thickness S1 of its starting material, while the straight side sections 4 a, 4 b of each axial crossbar 4 are designed with a greater material thickness S2 that increases their strength and the axial center section 4 e of each axial crossbar 4 is designed with a smaller material thickness S3 than the material thickness S1 of the side rings 2, 3, reducing its centrifugal mass. In like manner, it is evident from FIG. 3 that the intermediate sections 4 c, 4 d of the axial crossbars 4 are designed to taper uniformly from the material thickness S2 of the side sections 4 a, 4 b to the material thickness S3 of the center section 4 e of each axial crossbar 4. The radial cage 1 implemented in this way is implemented here as a welded, stamped and formed component made of a steel strip starting material on which the different material thicknesses S2, S3 on its axial crossbars 4 are formed by roll forming. In this way, with the targeted strengthening of the side sections 4 a, 4 b of the axial crossbars 4, which are particularly affected by wear, and the targeted weakening of the center sections 4 e of the axial crossbars 4, which are particularly affected by centrifugal loading, the breakage of the axial crossbars 4 previously arising at high rotational speeds, and the resultant consequential damage, are reliably avoided. At the same time, the straight side sections 4 a, 4 b of the axial crossbars 4 can be implemented with stop faces 7, 8, 9, 10 for the rolling elements 6 that are enlarged in the direction of the rolling element pitch circle Tk due to their increased material thickness S2, as is evident in FIG. 4, ensuring a low-wear area contact of the rolling elements 6 with the stop faces 7, 8, 9, 10. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A radial cage for cylindrical rolling elements, comprising: two side rings disposed at axial ends along an axial direction of the radial cage; and a plurality of profiled axial crossbars that connect one of said side rings to the other side ring at their outer diameters, forming a plurality of pockets for accommodating the cylindrical rolling elements between the crossbars, each of the axial crossbars comprising: two axially straight side sections connected to the side rings, two intermediate sections extending at an angle to the axial direction of the radial cage, and an axial center section, the side rings having a first material thickness, S1, in the axial direction, the straight side sections of each axial crossbar have a second material thickness, S2, in a radial direction, and the axial center section of each axial crossbar has a third material thickness, S3, in the radial direction, wherein S2>S1 and S3<S1, the intermediate section of each axial crossbar is uniformly tapered between the material thickness S2 of each respective side section and the material thickness S3 of the respective center section, bottom edges of the axially straight side sections include angled stop faces, and each cylindrical rolling element is radially retained in the radial cage by the angled stop faces of the axially straight side sections and top edges of the center section of a respective axial crossbar, without being radially retained by the intermediate sections of the respective axial crossbar.
 2. The radial cage according to claim 1, wherein the angled stop faces of the axially straight side sections have an increased thickness in a direction of a rolling element pitch circle.
 3. The radial cage according to claim 1, which is a welded component in which the second and third material thicknesses are formed by roll forming.
 4. A planetary gearing bearing, connecting rod bearing or small end bearing comprising the radial cage according to claim
 1. 5. A method of manufacturing the radial cage for cylindrical rolling elements according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: forming each of the axial crossbars by roll forming a steel strip starting material; and welding said axial crossbars to form said radial cage. 